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Police Beat: Rogue Surfer, Fair Thief and Two Ankles Get Busted

Edgartown police arrested a Cambridge man on Sunday after he reportedly ignored signs prohibiting swimming at South Beach due to rough surf and ignored repeated verbal warnings from lifeguards and police to exit the water. John T. Waring, 37, was charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing.

Gov. Deval Patrick gave an official order Friday morning to close South Beach due to impending 15 to 20 foot swells created by Hurricane Bill, which moved up the Atlantic Ocean well east of the Vineyard late Saturday night.

Police were called at 3:58 p.m. and spoke with beach director Kurstin Meehan, who said a man on a surfboard — later identified as Mr. Waring — ignored lifeguards who signaled him to get out of the water by waving their arms, shouting and using an air horn.

Police also used their blue emergency lights and public address system to warn Mr. Meehan to return to shore, all to no avail.

Ms. Meehan then sent two lifeguards into the rough surf to retrieve Mr. Meehan. When they finally reached Mr. Waring, they ordered him to paddle to shore, but he continued to ignore them. They eventually had to push the surfboard towards shore before Mr. Meehan agreed to cooperate.

Tisbury

Tisbury police are investigating two incidents of vandalism on Carroll’s Way last Wednesday night in which someone spray-painted graffiti on a pair of UPS trucks and several trailers parked at Carroll’s Trucking.

Officer Michael Gately said the two incidents were likely related. “They occurred in the same area and around the same time. They also used the same type of lettering,” he said.

The messages spray-painted on the vehicles were largely nonsensical. The investigation is ongoing.

On Monday Tisbury police responded to a two-vehicle accident on Beach Road involving a sport utility vehicle and a rental Smart Car.

Officer Gately said the Smart Car was traveling toward Oak Bluffs on Beach Road just after noon when it rear-ended a sports utility vehicle that had slowed down for traffic. The driver of the smart car was injured in the crash and transported by ambulance to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.

Officer Gately said the damage to the smaller car was extensive, while the sports utility vehicle sustained only minor damage to the bumper.

West Tisbury

West Tisbury police said the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair this weekend was busy but uneventful. “By all accounts pretty much everyone had a good time and remained on their best behavior,” said Sgt. Dan Rossi.

He said there was one report of shoplifting at the fair, in which someone allegedly stole an item of clothing from a merchant. The suspect in the theft is scheduled for a show cause hearing in district court next month.

West Tisbury police also responded to a single car accident around 1 p.m. last Monday involving a truck towing a boat on a trailer.

Sergeant Rossi said the trailer went out of control, causing the truck to veer off the road into a telephone pole. There were no serious injuries and no citations, although the truck and boat both suffered serious damage.

Aquinnah

Aquinnah police on Thursday pulled over a driver on Moshup Trail and issued citations for speeding and operating with an expired license. The vehicle was left by the side of the road, and the operator was given a ride home.

Also Thursday, police received a call that a driver and passenger in a vehicle were reportedly passing a can of beer. The vehicle was pulled over by Chilmark police; no citations were issued.

On Friday just after 4 p.m. police received a call that someone had been injured on Moshup Beach. Chief Belain responded on an all-terrain vehicle and transported a 16-year-old male with an ankle injury to an ambulance.

On Saturday just after 6 p.m. police responded to a bicycle accident on Raymond’s Hill and helped a female who had fallen and possibly broken her ankle. Later in the evening police responded to a report of a stolen kayak from the Herring Creek area.

On Sunday police issued two citations for speeding to two men driving motorcycles down Moshup Trail.

Comments (1)

Martha Luce, Oak Bluffs

I shudder to think what my 7th grade English teacher at Tisbury School, Beatrice Norton, would have to say about a reporter or headline writer using the word "busted".